1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording system, and especially to apparatus for controlling over recording of a scene for use in an image recording system in which the images are recorded on a rewritable recording medium including a magnetic recording medium such as magnetic tape or magnetic disk.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is known a portable image taking and image recording apparatus which is composed of a television (TV) camera and a magnetic tape recorder connected to each other or combined into a unitary device. In such an apparatus, a sequence of recording images, which will give an impression of continuous motion when the recording images are being reproduced on an image monitor, can be obtained by continually actuating the shutter release button thereof for a desired period of time with its lens directed toward an object. Such a sequence of recorded images including a single scene constitutes an imaging unit called a "cut" or a "shot". It is also possible with an electronic still camera, which includes a solid-state imaging device combined with a magnetic-disk recorder in a single casing, for example, to take a continuous sequence of shots of still images by operating the camera in a consecutive mode.
In the continuous shooting operation, an operator may become aware of a failure in shooting in the course of or immediately after termination of the shooting of one scene, such failure being caused by an obstacle traversing the scene before the object, failure in focusing, excess camera shake, or the object failing to move as desired.
In a cinecamera which makes use of a conventional silver-halide photosensitive material type photographic film, when such failure is noticed by the operator, he or she may take consecutive shots as a new scene on an unexposed length of film. This causes however a wasting of film and a complicated editing operation.
In the conventional magnetic recording system, it is possible to record again a new scene over that portion of a magnetic recording medium where the previous unsuccessful scene is recorded. However, difficulties are experienced in locating the starting point of the unsuccessful scene recorded.
Such a starting point can be located by loading the thus unsuccessfully recorded magnetic recording medium in an image reproducing device to monitor the reproduced image on an image monitor. This is however unpractical because such a reproducing device is usually not available at the site of shooting for a prompt reproducing operation. Even when the starting point of the scene in question is located in this manner, the scene one desires to shoot may be lost once and for all, and there may be the chance that the scene will not present itself again. It is therefore a customary practice that a new scene be recorded on an unused portion of the magnetic recording medium. In this case, however, there is no possibility of taking advantage of rewritability of the magnetic recording medium, thus causing an inconvenience similar to that which occurs when photographic film is used as mentioned hereinabove.